

ODERN 



Ev D, D. 




COUNCILS, 



ANCIENT AND MODERN. 



COUNCILS, 

ANCIENT AND MODERN 

FROM THE 

APOSTOLICAL COL^NCIL OF JERUSALEM, 

TO THE 

(ECUMENICAL COUNCIL OF NIC^EA, 

AND TO THE 

LAST PAPAL COUNCIL IN THE VATICAN. 



WILLIAM HARRIS RULE, D.D., 

AUTHOR OF "the HISTORY OF THE INQUISITION. 



' V^ here the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Liberty." 



LONDON : 
HODDER AND STOUGHTON, 

27, PATERNOSTER ROW. 

MDCCCLXX. 
8/^ 



(l^7D^ 






^A) PREFACE. 



After the interval of more than 300 years, the 
world hears again of an CEcumenical Council. 
To readers of ecclesiastical history the word 
is familiar, although it requires no low degxee 
of ecclesiastical science to estimate with accuracy 
the relative importance of councils, and their 
value as registers of the state of society, and of 
the Church, at the times when they occur. 

The object I have kept in view in this little 
book is, to present the general reader with a few 
characteristic notes, whereby he may be assisted 
to form some judgment of the Council now 
holding its sessions in Rome. If he pleases to 
study further, he may do so at his leisure, with 
the aid of more elaborate treatises. He may 
now compare it with that of Trent, which lin- 
gered through nearly twenty years, the rulers 
and representatives of the Church of Rome being 
all that time occupied in ostensible effoirts to 

A 2 



vi Preface, 

reform their Church and expound its doctrine, 
but in a real struggle to counteract the Evan- 
gelical Reformation, and to fortify their Church 
against the withering power of the truth and the 
merited indignation of society, long darkened 
and oppressed beneath its tyranny. Or he may 
compare it, assembled, as it is, under the sway 
of one Pope, with the Council of Constance, 
that disbanded several antipopes, set up in 
their stead a creature of their own, and com- 
forted themselves with casting two martyrs into 
the flames before they separated. Or he may 
contrast this Council of the Vatican with the 
venerable Council of Nicaea, where there was 
no Pope at all, and where the one ruling 
motive of its members was a desire to search 
into the truth of Holy Scripture, to accept it with 
one consent, and then proclaim it to the world. 

Always, and above all, recurring to the ex- 
amples and instructions of Holy Scripture, the 
reader is invited to contemplate the unity of the 
Church of Christ, as represented by the 120 
disciples, waiting with one accord in the upper 
chamber at Jerusalem to receive the Pentecosta-1 
blessing, and contrast therewith the disturbed 
company now brought together in the Vatican, 
Unlike the primitive disciples, the Cismontane 
and Ultramontane factions struggle with each 



Preface. vii 

other for ascendancy, and, in spite of every 
effort to keep their dissension secret, prove the 
impossibiHty of genuine concord so long as 
they are under the pressure of an anti-Christian 
authority, and are treated as the mere servants 
of one man, whom they have set up over them- 
selves instead of Christ. 

To diminish the mystery which, to many minds, 
obscures the idea of a council, I have taken care 
to mark what is most essential in the form and 
ceremonial of such assemblies. 

There is one thing, I confess, which causes 
me greater surprise than anything as yet said or 
done by Pope Pius IX., or any person belong- 
ing to him; and that is, the general surprise, 
astonishment, and indignation which we Eng- 
lishmen feel, or profess to feel, on the present 
occasion. The measure taken to accommodate 
the Church at Rome to the present state of 
things in the world, is but part of a course of 
action pursued steadily by its chief Pontiff and 
his advisers for nearly the quarter of a century. 
The thing itself is done exactly in the manner 
prescribed, with latest improvements, three cen- 
turies ago. The policy of profound secrecy; 
the absolute control ; the denial of free debate, 
and the special ceremonies. The previous ap- 
pointment of times for assembling the Council 



viii Preface, 

to receive and accept decrees and canons, with- 
out regard to time needed for due consideration 
or loss of time possible by inevitable delays ; a 
supreme contempt, of all things human, and a 
magnificent mockery of all that is Divine ; these 
are not new features, nor do they arise from 
any peculiarity of character in the Pope. This 
whole affair has little personality in it. It is 
not attributable to the exuberance of genius, 
nor to the defect of wisdom in Pope or Court. 
It is the stubborn routine of a system of human 
machinery, that will work itself out until the 
weights are down. The machine fancies itself 
to be unchangeable, and so it is. It is a blind 
automaton, to be avoided while it holds together. 
It cannot be mended, and must be broken up. 

The reader, it is hoped, will not complain 
because he does not find, within so small a space, 
information which is only to be gathered out of 
ponderous volumes, most of them written in a 
dead language, and scarcely ever opened except 
by hard-working canonists or studious antiqua- 
rians. It is presumed that nothing of the kind 
would be now desired. 

W. H. R. 

Croydon^ Dec. 24//^, 1869. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 
PREFACE V 

UNITY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST . . .II 

EARLY CHRISTIAN COUNCILS . . . .15 

CECUMENICAL - 21 

COUNCILS FALSELY CALLED CECUMENICAL . . 31 

THE COUNCIL OF TRENT 36 

THE COUNCIL OF THE VATICAN . . . . 40 

AVOWED OBJECTS OF THE POPE . . . .54 

** errors" to be remedied by the COUNCIL OF 

THE VATICAN , 61 

INFALLIBILITY 66 

COUNCILS HELD IN ROME 73 

PROBABLE EFFECTS OF THE LAST COUNCIL . . 76 



FROM THE 



APOSTOLICAL COUNCIL OF JERUSALEM, 



CECUMENICAL COUNCIL OF NIC^A, 



AND TO THE LAST 



PAPAL COUNCIL IN THE VATICAN. 



Caundl^, |.ttrimt anir p;0iri^rn> 



UNITY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 

Few persons in this country have any clear 
conception of what is meant by an OEcumenical 
Council. The last assemblage so called closed 
in the year 1563, and the world scarcely ex- 
pected to see another. Some information on 
the subject may therefore be acceptable, and 
perhaps it cannot be conveyed more effectually 
than by surveying rapidly, yet with the greatest 
possible care, some of the councils noted in 
history from the commencement of Christianity 
until now. 

Certainly there is no ill=meaning in the word, 
and the thing it represents may be very good or 
very bad. The Divine Head of the Church 
desired that we Christians should all be one, 
thinking and acting in concert. He separated 



12 Councils^ Ancient and Modern. 

His first disciples from the world, constituted 
them one family, designed them to be a house- 
hold of faith, and so described them collectively 
under various titles as to indicate their oneness. 
They were a flock, and He the shepherd ; the 
Church a body, the Saviour of the Church its 
head \ He the vine, Christians the branches ; 
He the captain of their salvation, they good 
soldiers wearing the whole armour of God, 
wielding the sword of the spirit, and therewith 
withstanding every assault, and overcoming the 
world by faith. After His resurrection. He did 
not let the morning sun rise upon the hills 
around Jerusalem before He proceeded to gather 
together His dispersed family, and after the 
memorable forty days of intimate converse with 
them, He led them out together to Bethany, 
there to give them their commission to the 
world. He breathed on them the spirit of 
inspiration ; He bade them go into the world 
and preach the Gospel to every creature ; but 
even at that moment He imposed on them a 
most salutary restraint : '^ Tarry ye in Jerusalem 
until ye be endued with power from on high.'- 
For that power they were to pray, and go on 
praying until it came, for without it they would 
be weak and worthless. They obeyed their 
master, prayed, waited, and were of one accord 



U7iity of the Church of Chi'ist. 13 

in one place. So the best of the Saviour's fol- 
lowers were assembled for the single purpose of 
prayer, when the celestial flame descended, 
crowned each one of them with fire, and made 
them fit for united counsel, and then for united 
action. Their outward unity was not enough ; 
neither would there be collective wisdom until 
each one of them came under the guidance of 
that inspiration of the Almighty which giveth 
understanding, not superseding study and care, 
but enabling His servants to judge and act aright 
in concert. 

Now, this is not matter of speculation, but 
of history. It is well known that the early 
Christians were honourably distinguished from 
the mxasses of society around- Origen, whose 
name is to this day familiar, has a remarkable 
passage to our present purpose. He wrote less 
than two hundred years after our Lord's ascen- 
sion into heaven, when Christianity had been 
long enough in the world to impress its heavenly 
character on many, and not long enough to have 
degenerated into superstition ; and in his third 
book against Celsus, he appeals to the Greeks 
and Egyptians as witnesses of the superiority of 
Christian over heathen society. " The Churches 
of God," he said, " were well instructed, compared 
with the vulgar companies of men. They were 

B 



14 Councils^ A7ident and Modern, 

evidently the lights of the world, '^ He boldly 
contrasted the Christian congregations in Athens, 
Corinth, and Alexandria, cities which he well 
knew, with the civic assemblies in each of them, 
as being incomparably superior in intelligence, 
in manners, and in moral conduct, and then 
proceeds to say : " And if you examine the 
ecclesiastical senate of each of those cities, you 
will find some ecclesiastical senators fit to 
administer anywhere a divinely constituted 
commonwealth ; but those senators whom you 
ordinarily meet with have nothing in their 
manners to distinguish them from the common 
people. The same of magistrates, who are 
members of our Churches, compared with their 
colleagues in civic authority, and who, although 
they discharge their duties with a certain air of 
coolness, far excel the other magistrates of the 
city and the ordinary senators in manners and 
in virtue." 

We cannot doubt the truth of this representa- 
tion. It exactly agrees with the language of St. 
Paul : " Dare any of you, having a matter against 
another, go to law before the unjust, and not 
before the saints ? Do ye not know that the 
saints shall judge the world ? " So long, how- 
ever, as Christians were saints. Christian 
Councils were what they ought to be, but no 



Early Christian Coimcils, 15 

longer. Before plunging into the troubled 
waters of later times, let us observe how eccle- 
siastical councils were conducted while the 
Church was pure. 



EARLY CHRISTIAN COUNCILS. 

Passing by the election of Matthias, and the 
appointment of the Seven Deacons, let us fix 
our attention on what some call the First 
Council, or Council of Jerusalem, while they 
vainly wish to trace up the lineage of the coun- 
cils that now are to that honourable parentage. 

Twenty years had elapsed since the Resurrec- 
tion of the Saviour. The chief men in the 
Church were beyond the age when zeal some- 
times outruns judgment, and by various ex- 
perience must have learned wisdom, and had 
attained to mature piety. At Antioch, the 
number of converts had greatly increased, and 
many of them were Gentiles. Some Jewish 
Christians came down from Judea, and taught 
that, unless they were circumcised after the 
manner of Moses, they could not be saved. 
This raised a grave question, which does not 
appear to have been mooted before, and the 
zealots pleaded what probably they felt, — the sin- 



1 6 Councils^ Ancient and Modern, 

cerity of a tender conscience. The Apostles 
resisted them, having a conscience no less 
tender, but far more enlightened ; but while 
they well knew what to teach, they did not so 
well know what to do. Dissension wrought no 
good, and disputation made matters worse. 
Paul and Barnabas, with certain others of them, 
determined not to break the bond of charity, 
but went up together to Jerusalem to consult the 
Apostles and elders there. The Church brought 
them on their way. They preached Christ 
wherever they rested on their journey, " and 
when they were come to Jerusalem, they were 
received of the Church, and of the Apostles and 
elders, and declared the things that God had 
done with them." Then rose certain of the 
Pharisees, now believers in Christ, but severely 
rigid, and insisted that those converted Gentiles 
should be circumcised. No doubt their minds 
were somewhat ruffled, but so is the face of the 
ocean under an angry wind, and yet the depth 
of the ocean is unmoved. But " the Apostles 
and elders came together to consider of the 
matter." Having thus considered, they united in 
counsel with " the whole Church," and after 
earnest deliberation, conducted under the influ- 
ence of wisdom superior to their own, the 
Apostles and elders and brethren sent back 



Eaidy Christian Councils. 17 

chosen men of their own company to Antioch 
with Paul and Barnabas, and wrote letters ad- 
dressed to the brethren of the Gentiles in 
Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, with greeting 
from '^the Apostles and elders and brethren," 
to tell them that "it seemed good to the Holy 
Ghost " and to themselves to lay upon them no 
greater burden than a very few necessary things, 
the observance of which would enable them to 
keep clear of Pagan defilements ; but by no 
means would they trouble the Gentile converts 
with circumcision, nor with anything peculiar to 
the Mosiac Law, much less with Pharisaic 
traditions. 

There v/as no ostentation of authority, no 
multitude of canons, no exaltation of either 
James or Simon, nor any hard words against 
their troublers. The effect of this godly wis- 
dom was just what might have been expected. 
'^ When they," Paul and Barnabas, Barsabas and 
Silas, '^ were dismissed, they came to Antioch ; 
and when they had gathered the multitude to- 
gether, they delivered the Epistle, which, when 
they had read, they rejoiced with consolation." 
For " where the spirit of the Lord is, there is 
liberty." 

Following this authoritative precedent, the 
Christians of that century and the two following 

B 2 



1 8 Councils^ Ancient and Moder7i, 

took counsel together for the settlement of diffi- 
cult questions, or for the remedy of evils that 
from time to time arose. For example, when 
Montanus, a Phrygian, a man self-willed and 
vain, fancied that he was the Paraclete, or Com- 
forter, whom Christ had promised to send to 
His disciples, and endeavoured to assume the 
office of Patron or Protector of his fellows, 
several synods were assembled, to consult how 
that monstrous assumption might be disproved 
and ended. When Paul of Samosata denied 
the divinity of the Son of God and the perso- 
nality of the Holy Ghost, many meetings, also 
called councils, were convened to consider how 
to counteract the error by a more effectual exhi- 
bition of the truth. When even the good Origen 
ran wild and spoiled his ministrations by the 
mixture of many follies, a council was held in 
Alexandria in Egypt for the same purpose. 

Questions of discipline unavoidably arose. 
The Jewish members of the Church commemo- 
rated the death of Christ on the same day as the 
members of the Synagogue kept the Feast of the 
Passover. The Gentile Christians preferred to 
observe Easter, so that the Resurrection should 
always be commemorated on the first day of the 
week, not measuring the month from the new 
moon, as the Jews did. This difference of 



Early Christian Councils. 19 

practice aggravated other differences^ and let in 
upon the Church a spirit of caste which was 
very hurtful. Councils were, therefore, held in 
various places, especially in C^sairea, Pontus, 
Rome, Corinth, and Ephesus. 

In spite of the utmost watchfulness on the part 
of their pastors, many of the flock went astray, 
and even when conversions were most frequent, 
defections were probably most numerous ; and 
there were many occasions of defection. But 
hovv' far a wanderer might stray vrithout passing 
quite beyond the pale of the Christian fold it 
was often difficult to tell, yet necessary to deter- 
mine. For if a man were a Christian, he might 
admit a convert into the Church by baptism ; 
but if he were not any more a Christian, it cer- 
tainly would not be fitting that he should 
continue to meddle with the administration of a 
Christian sacrament, or pretend to admit others 
into a society he had himself deserted. Hence 
a keen controversy was carried on concerning 
baptism by heretics, and councils were conse- 
quently assembled in Africa, Italy, Cappadocia, 
and other parts of the world. 

The propagation of the Gospel in Spain 
brought multitudes of Gentiles and Jews into 
the Church, who still hankered after their old 
idolatrous or sensual indulgences, or retained 



20 Coundls^ Ancient and Modern. 

certain Jewish practices. It would appear that 
synods were very early holden in various parts 
of the Peninsula ; and then in Elvira, near the 
site of Granada, as that city now stands, one 
large council was assembled about the year 306. 
The canons of that council, as they are now 
found, are very numerous, and it would be diffi- 
cult to account for so large a collection at such 
an early date, apart from the conjecture that the 
bishops who met at Elvira brought with them 
canons which had been made in their several 
dioceses, and formed of them one collection ; 
and the general tenor of those canons leads us 
to conclude — -firsts that the efforts of the early 
Spanish bishops had been directed to overcome 
prevailing vices, especially sins of licentiousness 
and savage passion ; and, secondly^ to counteract 
the influence of Judaism, which we know to 
have been very great indeed in that country, 
where Hebrews began to settle at least 1,300 
years before. Even if those canons were 
written by the good men at Elvira just as we 
find them now, which is too much to be 
imagined, they show that, in spite of some 
slight approximation to the style of a century 
or two later, the Christian ministers of that age 
were earnest labourers, who sought to elevate 
the moral standard of society, and who would 



(Ecumenical Coimcils, 21 

inflict the penance of abstinence, for example, 
upon immoral members of their congregations, 
with a sincere desire to humble them and do 
them good. 

As yet, the councils have all been local, or, in 
the ecclesiastical acceptation of the word, pro- 
vincial, except the Council of Elvira {Elliberis)^ 
which may be considered national, and bears 
evidence of the natural and proper tendency of 
Churches or congregations to unite for mutual 
succour or collective action. But it would 
scarcely have been possible to assemble a 
General Council to represent all Christendom 
so long as Christianity was treated as an illicit 
religion within the bounds of the empire, or, 
on its increase in numbers, received, at best, a 
cool and intermittent toleration. But a great 
change approaches on the conversion of an 
emperor to the Christian faith. 



CECUMENICAL COUNCILS. 

*' It came to pass in those days that there went 
out a decree from Csesar Augustus, that all the 
world [ivaa-av ttjv olKovfxeurju) should be taxed." 
World is the best word our translators could 



2 2 Councils^ Ancient a?id Modern, 

find in their incomparable Saxon to represent 
the Greek oikoumene, which, in the language of 
the New Testament, meant the empire. That 
was a Roman boast. It was as if it had been 
said, ^^ Wherever there stands a human habita- 
tion." So the Pope calls his domain the oikou- 
mene, and claims the largest acceptation for the 
name, pretending to spiritual sovereignty over 
all the globe. He, too, more ambitious than 
Augustus, would have the whole world to be 
taxed, and the present council is, with that 
understanding, called cecumenicaL 

In ecclesiastical style, at least in the Church 
of Rome, there are Diocesan Synods, consisting 
of the clergy of a diocese assembled and pre- 
sided over by the bishop ] Synods, or Councils 
Provincial, convened and presided over by the 
archbishop or metropolitan, a province being the 
territory that is, or is supposed to be, under 
the jurisdiction of an archbishop. A National 
Council consists of all the bishops of one nation, 
and an (Ecumenical Council should consist of all 
the bishops in the world. Nothing less is meant 
by the ostentatious title, and no effort is spared 
to put a face of oecumenicity upon the assem- 
blage now in Rome. It would require a distinct 
publication to show that the Greek and Oriental 
ecclesiastics who now make a figure there have 



(Ecumenical Councils. 23 

no truly representative character, and that much 
of the parade of Greeks in this council is as 
dishonest as would be the stealing of a trade- 
mark in the world of commerce. 

Using the word oecumenical as it was used in 
Greek, when the Roman Empire was in the 
height of its glory, it is equivalent with imperial. 
In that sense it was rightfully employed by 
Constantine the Great. The reader will remem- 
ber that Constantine, when reigning over the 
western half of the Empire, went to war with 
his colleague, Licinius, Emperor of the eastern 
half He conquered Licinius, and was much in- 
debted for that conquest to the Christian soldiers 
in his army ; attributed their bravery and their 
success to the succour of their God, granted in 
answer to their prayers. Licinius had perse- 
cuted the Christians, and now Constantine not 
only favoured them, but himself became a 
Christian. 

At this time Arianism had broken out in the 
East, Arius being still alive and busy. The 
Arians were, in some parts of the Eastern 
Empire, the stronger party, and the orthodox 
Christians, on the fall of Licinius, appealed to 
Constantine for protection. Constantine, no 
less than Augustus, had the whole oikoumene 
at his feet, and believing that the most reason- 



24 Councils^ Ancient and Modern. 

able way of reconciling adverse parties was to 
bring them face to face, invited the most 
eminent Christian ministers of East and West 
to come into his presence and debate the great 
question of our Lord's divinity. He was tljen 
at Nicomedia, a city of Bithynia, putting into 
order the affairs of the eastern portion of his 
united empire ; and an assemblage of this kind 
was naturally and almost necessarily called 
oecumenical, or imperial. Of all Christian 
general councils, it was thtjirst and best 

When Augustus issued his decree, the gates 
of the Temple of Janus, god of war, were shut, 
because the empire was at peace. When Con- 
stantine issued this summons to a council of 
Christian ministers, the temples of the Prince of 
Peace were all thrown open. War and perse- 
cution ceased at once. The schism of the 
empire was healed, and the victorious emperor 
desired to heal the schism of the Church. 

At his command the invited members of the 
council were conveyed to Nicaea by sea and 
land. Ships and carriages, with every necessary 
comfort, were provided for them at the public 
charge. On their arrival at Nicaea, where they 
were to await the arrival of Constantine, they 
were honourably received as his friends. What- 
ever may be said to cast a reasonable doubt on 



CEcuniefiical Councils. 25 

his reported vision of a cross, and the story of 
the thundering legion, it is indisputably true that 
he attributed his possession of the entire empire 
to their prayers, and made no secret of his 
gratitude. 

On a day appointed, in the year 325, about 
300 confessors of Christ were assembled in a 
spacious apartment of his palace. Seats were 
placed around the hall, and the centre of the 
floor was clear. For the first time since the 
day of Pentecost a body of men, really repre- 
sentative of all Christendom, found themselves 
seated face to face in a chamber prepared for 
their occupation. It was not a dream, but a 
strange reality. They had met already in the 
Christian Church of Nicaea, and in presence of 
the congregation had given solemn thanks to 
God, and prayed for the power of the Holy 
Ghost to rest upon themselves in the expected 
discussion with Arius and his followers, and on 
the congregations of Europe, Asia, and Africa. 

There was Alexander, the faithful Bishop of 
Alexandria, where Arius began to propagate his 
heresy, attended by a young deacon who became 
the champion of the faith for which they were 
now contending, and whose name passed into a 
proverb, ^^ Athanasius against the world." There 
was Eustathius of Antioch, not unworthily sur- 

c 



26 Councils^ Ancient and Modern, 

named the Great, a man of signal eloquence, 
and a veteran confessor during the persecution 
of Licinius, if not also of Diocletian, venerable 
for piety and learning ; Macarius, shepherd of 
the Christian flock in Jerusalem, the scene of 
our Saviour's humiliation and of His triumph 
too, chiefly hated, as well became him, by the 
deniers of the Lord's Divinity. Csecilian came 
from Carthage, strong in the faith. Meno- 
phantes, from Byzantium, had stood unshaken 
under Arian persecution. From Thebais, in 
Egypt, the aged Paphnutius, eminent for his 
resistance of the first proposal to impose celi- 
bacy on his brethren, he being himself un- 
married, in consequence of life-long suflering 
for the cause of Christ, in which he never would 
involve a wife. James of Nisibis, in Mesopotamia. 
The learned Leontius of Caesarea, in Cappa- 
docia, teacher of Gregory Nazianzum, and many 
others, whose names are less famous, but whose 
labours rendered them well worthy of the dis- 
tinction they received. Alexander of Thessa- 
lonica, by whom Athanasius, when in the height 
of his well-earned honours, was pleased to be 
called his " son." Osius, the wise and devoted 
Bishop of Cordova, the Nestor, in his time, of 
Christian counsels. Victor of Rome sent two 



CEciwimkal Councils. 27 

to represent him, Vitus and Vincent. Persia, 
Armenia, and Scythia sent representatives. 

Many of these men bore marks of the suf- 
fering they had undergone. One had lost an 
eye under the hand of the tormentor, and was 
maimed on one side. Many bore scars of 
wounds received in Uke manner, and others 
were bending under premature age in conse- 
quence of hunger, care, and excessive labour in 
their Master's vv^ork. 

A golden chair was ready for the Emperor, 
and on a table before it lay a copy of the 
Gospels, or perhaps of the entire Bible. No 
crucifix, no symbol, no lighted lamps on that 
bright 19th day of June. The loathsomicness 
of idolatry had been too lately tasted. Space 
was left for the imperial attendants, and Arius 
and his party also had places found them with 
their brethren, if brethren they might be. 

All being ready, Constantine sent some of his 
servants to announce his approach. They were 
not armed guards, but Christians selected from 
his body guard, and without their arms. The 
'' Fathers " rose in silence as the Emperor him- 
self entered. He came in his purple, glittering 
with jewels and heavy with gold ; at once bear- 
ing on his person the sign of imperial pomp and 



28 Councils^ Ancient and Modern, 

the badge of Roman degeneracy. Yet, unlike 
his predecessors, he bowed reverently in pre- 
sence of the servants of that God who has no 
other image on earth than such a hkeness of 
Himseh"* as, by His grace, those servants can 
exhibit. They say he blushed. He might have 
thought of the wrongs the good men had suf- 
fered. He might have felt the power of the 
Holy Spirit, whose presence they had sought. 
Eusebius, the historian, was there, and, as eye: 
witness, describes the bearing of Constantine at 
that moment, and so affords us a glance which 
almost reveals the working of that Spirit of 
Truth which, above emperor and bishops, pre- 
sided at the first Council of Nicaea. 

There is not room here for any adequate ac- 
count of the proceedings of this council. Canons 
attributed to it may be found in the collections 
of the Acts of Councils, but the most trust- 
worthy accounts must be sought in the TOtings 
of Eusebius and Athanasius. Sozomen and 
Theodoret are secondary authorities, and Philo- 
storgius is inferior still. The chief monument of 
the Council is the Nicene Creed, so far as the 
words, " I believe in the Holy Ghost." Some 
spurious canons, now added to the canons of a 
Council held at Sardica, twenty-two years later, 
but not really adopted at that Council, are in- 



(Ecmnenical Councils. 29 

tended to represent that the Bishop of Rome 
should be appealed to in any case where 
councils cannot agree. These canons were 
never acknowledged by the Universal Church, 
nor made use of by any but the popes. But 
the Council of Nice was truly oecumenical, 
and can be mentioned with honour and thank- 
fulness. It was convened by a Christian Em- 
peror on an appeal from his own subjects before 
popes existed, and when the Bishop of Rome 
had not yet attempted to assume the position of 
Supreme Pastor of the Universal Church. That 
usurpation came to pass nearly three centuries 
later. 

The CEcwne7iical Council of Constantinople in 
the years 381-383, finished the work begun at 
Nicsea. It was summoned from the whole 
empire, both east and west, by the Emperor 
Theodosius. The Confession of Faith in the 
Holy Ghost in the Nicene Creed was found 
scarcely sufficient to represent the prevailing 
faith of Christians or the statements of Holy 
Scripture, and therefore the following words 
were added at Constantinople : — 

" And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord 
and giver of Life, who proceeded from the 
Father, who, with the Father and the Son, 
together is worshipped and glorified ; who 

c 2 



30 Councils^ Ancient and Modern. 

spake by the Prophets. And I beUeve one 
Catholic and ApostoHc Church. I acknowledge 
one baptism for the remission of sins, and I look 
for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of 
the world to come." Soon aftenvards, the 
doxolog}^, '^ Glory be to the Father, and to the 
Son, and to the Holy Ghost," mth the response, 
^' As it was in the beginning, is now^, and ever 
shall be, world without end. Amen," was added 
to the perpetual confession of Christendom, and 
has resounded in the true Catholic Church ever 
since. With this closes what we have to say 
concerning the councils properly called 
OEcumenical. 



COUNCILS FALSELY CALLED CECUMENICAL. 

Apart from the proceedings of a council, 
whether good or evil, its title to be called 
universal, or (xcumenical, simply depends on the 
decision of one question, w^hether or not it con- 
tains, so far as may be possible, representatives 
of the Christian Church in all parts of the world, 
and of all the recognised divisions of the Church 
of Christ. So vast and various an assemblage 
could scarcely be hoped for, and, if it wxre pos- 



Coimcils falsely called (Ecumenical. 3 1 

sible, it is certain that it could not act. Even if 
it acted, the character of its proceedings would 
have to be ascertained before the world could 
possibly know how to estimate its value. There- 
fore, taking no account of the name, it remains 
to ascertain whether the so-called General 
Councils, which have been held since the times 
of Nicaea and Constantinople to the present, 
have been such as to deserve the confidence or 
gratitude of posterity. 

The Second Council of Nicsea, for example, 
convened at the bidding of the Empress Irene 
in the year 787, for the express purpose of es- 
tablishing the worship of images in the churches 
of the East, after the images had been broken 
by the zeal of the people, and under the sanc- 
tion of a numerous council assembled in Con- 
stantinople, can only be mentioned as having 
upheld idolatry and dishonoured the Christian 
name. In relation to the history of Europe, it is 
marked as the proximate cause of separating 
east and west ; and they who can see God in 
history fail not to notice the retribution which 
makqs the division of Europe in the eighth cen- 
tury a chief cause of the gradual weakening of 
the Latin Church from that time to the present. 
Very soon after the decrees of the second 
council of Nicsea, fop the restoration of "sacred 



32 Councils^ Ancient and Modern. 

images " in churches and elsewhere, the Greek 
Church formally separated from the Church of 
Rome, and now treats its overtures for recon- 
ciliation with dignified disdain. The second 
council of Nicsea was, after all, more political 
than religious ; and the history of those as- 
semblies is full of evidence to show that conten- 
tious priests and rival princes were playing with 
the sacred interests of mankind and desecrating 
the name of Christianity. All experience, there- 
fore, after the fourth century of the Christian era, 
teaches that the religion of the Saviour was 
framed and established by Himself, and that 
there is no Parliament of any sort, either civil or 
ecclesiastical, that can frame it anew, or that 
mankind can trust to improve or strengthen it. 
A remarkable period in the histor}/ of such 
assemblies extends from the Council of Pisa to 
that of Basil in the fifteenth century. 

Curious collectors of dates and facts count no 
fewer than six-and-twenty schisms in the Church 
of Rome, that is to say, divisions of the whole 
popedom into separate ^' obediences." Seven of 
these, however, took place before the Bishop of 
Rome became Pope by the express authority of 
the Emperor Phocas. Nineteen times since then, 
two or more antipopes have been contend- 
ing for the occupation of the Papal throne, each 



Cowuils falsely called (Eaimenical. 2t?> 
# 
of them having the title of Pope, and receiving 
homage as such from a portion of the popedom. 
At length the case of the Papacy became des- 
perate, and it was to be apprehended that as 
Constantinople and Rome were irrecoverably 
separated, so Rome and Avignon, each having 
its own pope, with his cardinals and court, the 
schism of Christendom would be permanent, and 
the Papacy itself eventually become impossible. 
The Councils of Pisa, Constance, and Basil 
spent about thirty-five years in striving, not quite 
unsuccessfully, to save the Papacy, but with no 
regard to what is most essential to the unity and 
safety of the Church of God. 

While two antipopes, under the names of 
Benedict XI I L and Gregory XI I. were struggling 
for ascendancy, the cardinals of the two obe- 
diences were met in the Cathedral of Pisa to 
assume the government of the divided Church, 
and sit in judgment over both of them. Both 
were summoned to appear, but neither came. 
Thrice a cardinal made solemn proclamation at 
the church-door, but they were contumacious 
notwithstanding. After due solemnity, they were 
solemnly proclaimed contumacious and heretical, 
and a successor to the throne was elected and 
adored under the name Alexander V. 

Alexander was utterly worthless; he soon died, 



34 Councils^ Ancient and Modern. 

and was succeeded by one of his patrons. Forth- 
with the Council of Constmice assembled, in the 
year 141 4, under the Emperor Sigismund, and 
had much work to do in getting rid of three 
antipopes and creating one new Pope, who 
took the name of Martin V. But the three 
false pontiffs, John XXIII., Gregory XII., and 
Benedict XIII., were not the only troubles of the 
notorious Council of Constance. Two heretics, 
namely, John Huss and Jerome of Prague, were 
spreading doctrines more hated by the members 
of the Council than all the antipopes, with their 
vicious habits and restless greed. They had 
learned the doctrine promulgated by our John 
Wycliffe, and the kingdom of Bohemia threatened 
to cast off the Papacy, now made so utterly con- 
temptible. The Council, therefore, divided its 
cares between the affairs of the antipopes and 
those of the heretics. Huss they summoned into 
their presence, and he came thither under a 
safe conduct from the Emperor j but no sooner 
did they get him within the gates of Constance 
than they took him into custody, passed him 
from prison to prison, tried him for heresy, and 
finally bound him to a stake and burnt him 
alive. A noble Bohemian who boldly came to 
Constance to plead for him, undaunted by the 
prospect of a cruel death, was in like manner 



Councils falsely called (Ecumenical. 35 

seized, imprisoned, convicted of heresy, and 
burnt alive. Having set up a new Pope and 
martyred two witnesses for God's truth, the 
Council of Constance dispersed, and its name 
became a brand of infamy. 

Still the schism continued ; no council ever 
burnt a Pope, or a pretender to the Popedom, and 
therefore none of these Gregories or Benedicts 
came to the stake. They lived on, others sprang 
up after them, and at length another Council 
met at Basil, where it laboured vainly for many 
years to heal the system, but proved the inca- 
pacity of such Councils to do anything but 
mischief It remained in permanence from 1431 
to 1443, and dissolved itself with two pontiffs 
more firmly than ever settled in their seats. One 
of them, Nicholas V., having better temper and 
sounder sense than most of his predecessors, so 
far outmatched his competitor Felix, as to induce 
him to put off the habit of a Pope, and accept 
that of a cardinal, with wealth and quietness to 
the end of his days. Much more was not heard 
of those useless gatherings until the lapse of 
another century, when the Council of Trent was 
obtained on the earnest demand of some of the 
Sovereigns of Europe, and others, who trusted 
that something might be done to satisfy those 



36 Cotmcih^ Ancient and Modern. 

who desired the Reformation of the Church a.nd 
Court of Rome, 



THE COUNCIL OF TRENT. 

The history of the Council of Trent is better 
known to general readers than that of any other. 
Very briefly, therefore, let it be noted that it met 
in the 1545, and, after many suspensions and 
much delay, closed its last and busiest session 
on December 4th, 1563. The council, be it 
first of all observed, was completely under the 
control of the Pope, his cardinals, and Italian 
priests. The Italians were always able to com- 
mand a majority if questions were to be settled 
by mere majority of votes ; but votes were not 
free, and we shall presently see very distinctly 
that in such a council freedom is impossible. 

The object chiefly pursued was to counteract 
the Protesta.nt Reformation. To that end the 
council endeavoured to silence the complaints 
of the laity in general, and of a few of the most 
estimable of the Romish clergy, by a reforma- 
tion of their own. Some gross abuses and irre= 
gularities were, no doubt, corrected ; and an 
entire system of ecclesiastical government was 
constructed with a view to improve the character 



Council of Trent, 37 

of the clergy in general, and enable them to 
cope with the reformed churches in Germany, 
France, and England. Scandals could thence- 
forth be more easily diminished or concealed 
from common observation. The doctrine to be 
professed by the Romish theologians was also 
very carefully considered. The canons relating 
to doctrine were drawn up with consummate 
care by men whom better education qualified for 
the work. We must remember that the closing 
of the great schism and the revival of letters 
were contemporaneous events, and that the 
earliest and most important labours of the 
printing press were carried on with ever-increas- 
ing vigour, together with the advances of the 
Protestant Reformation, in the period that inter- 
vened between the Council of Basil and the 
close of the Council of Trent Men of superior 
knowledge and great talent who arose under the 
light of that Reformation promoted the culture 
of new science, and laboured hard to clothe the 
Church in new habiliments, and to administer 
her government with a more sagacious policy. 
All this must be freely acknowledged, and ought 
to be clearly understood ; but, at the same time, 
even the most liberal charity has no veil that she 
can cast over the essential barbarism of the 
Church of Rome, which no degree of intellec- 

D 



38 Cowicils^ Ande7it a?id Modern, 

tual culture in its rulers can altogether over- 
come. Take the concluding acclamations vvith 
which the *^ Fathers of the Council " made known 
their sentiments. 

After the Cardinal Morone, first legate, had 
pronounced his benediction, and bidden them 
depart in peace, the Cardinal De Lorraine read 
aloud : — 

" To the most blessed Pope Pius, our Lord, 
and pontiif of the holy and universal Church, 
many years and eternal memory." 

The fathers responded : — 

^^ O Lord God, preserve our most holy Father 
long time to thy Church ; many years ! 

Card. " To the souls of the most blessed 
supreme pontiffs, Paul IIL and Julius III., by 
whose authority this holy general council was 
begun, peace from the Lord, and eternal glory, 
and felicity in the light of the saints. 

Resp. '^ May their memory be blessed ! 

Card. " Blessed be the memory of Charles V., 
Emperor, and of the most serene kings who pro- 
moted and protected this universal council 

Resp. " Amen ! Amen 1 

Card. " To the most serene Emperor Ferdi- 
nand, ever august, orthodox, and pacific, and 
to all our kings, commonwealths, and princes, 
many years. 



Coimcil of Trent. 39 

Resp. " O Lord, preserve the pious and 
Christian Emperor : O Heavenly Emperor, keep 
thou the earthly kings that are preservers of the 
right faith. 

Card. " Great thanks to the legates of the 
Apostolic See, with many years. 

Resp. '^ Great thanks. The Lord reward 
them I 

Card. " To the most reverend cardinals, and 
illustrious orators. 

Resp. " Great thanks ; many years ! 

Card. '' Life to the most holy bishops, and a 
happy return to their churches, 

Resp. '' Perpetual memory to the preachers of 
the truth 1 Many years to the orthodox senate. 

Card. " The Sacrosanct Council of Trent : 
let us confess its faith ; let us always keep its 
decrees 1 

Resp. '' Let us ever confess : let us ever keep. 

Card. "- We all thus believe. We all think 
the same thing. We all consent ; and, accept- 
ing, we all subscribe. This is the faith of 
Blessed Peter, and of the Apostles. This is the 
faith of the Fathers. This is the faith of the 
orthodox. 

Resp. '' So we believe. So we think. So we 
subscribe. 

Card. " While we adhere to these decrees, we 



40 Cowicils^ Ancient and Afodern, 

shall be rendered worthy of the mercies and 
grace of our great High Priest, Jesus Christ, 
God ; our holy ever-virgin Lady, the mother of 
God, and all saints at the same time interceding. 

Resp, " So be it. So be it Amen ! Amen ! 

Card, " A curse upon aJl heretics. 

Resp. " A curse ! A curse ! " 

The solemn anathema rang through Europe, 
and the decrees of the Council, with all its acts, 
provoked much dissatisfaction. Philip II. of 
Spain, whose memory in England, as husband 
of " Bloody Queen Mary,*' has no honour, 
accepted the Council, not deigning to consult 
the wishes of his subjects, with whom it was 
exceedingly unpopular. The rulers of other 
states followed very tardily; but France, from 
that day to this, has not accepted the Council of 
Trent. Some of the most eminent of the French 
clergy have written elaborate treatises in oppo- 
sition to Ultramontanism, in relation to the 
present council 

THE COUNCIL OF THE VATICAN. 

As matters now stand, there is no country in 
the old world where a place could be found for 
the assemblage of a general council, with its 
traditional display, in connection v^ath the Church 



Council of the Vatican. 41 

of Rome, beyond the little province wherein the 
City of Rome stands. There, and only there, 
the Pope and his cardinals can do nearly as 
they please. In obedience to the Papal sum- 
mons, which bears date June 29th, 1868, a con- 
siderable number of patriarchs, archbishops, and 
bishops, with the heads of monastic orders, and 
other ecclesiastical dignitaries, are met together. 
As for those that are resident in Rome, they are 
present, of course, and are the chief actors ; many 
who bear high titles have no more than the 
titles to give them seats in a council of bishops, 
as their sees and patriarchates exist only in 
imagination, they being only what is called in 
^artihis—titulsir bishops and even patriarchs of 
cities and countries, where they neither do nor 
can reside. Therefore, they who have gone to 
Rome from many parts of the world, have not all 
been influenced by reverence and fidelity to the 
Pope, as many persons fancy, but, as Archbishop 
Manning truly says, they were not invited, but 
summoned, having been previously bound by oath 
to go to Synod when called for. Every bishop 
elect, before he can be consecrated, must swear to 
these words : — Vocatus ad Synodimi veniam^ nisi 
prcepeditus fuei^o ca7to7iica pro^peditio7ie, " When 
called to a Synod I will come, unless I shall be 
hindered byacanonical hindrance." And, whether 

D 2 



42 ^ Councils, Ancient and Modern. 

summoned or not, he promises in the same oath 
that at certain periods, which are fixed accord- 
ing to the distance of his diocese from Rome, 
he will present himself at the threshold of the 
Apostles, that is to say, before the Pope at 
Rome, to give an account of his proceedings in 
the service of His Holiness. 

The present Council was to meet on the 
8th December, 1869; but even that precise 
appointment produced a false impression on 
those who did not know that the business of 
the Council would be, in reality, transacted 
before that day. Dr. Manning refers to this 
fact, in the Pastoral Letter which he sent to his 
clergy in England, previously to his own depar- 
ture. " You are already aware," he says, " that 
the preparatory congregations are seven in num- 
ber, and that the matters distributed to them 
cor^c^T^^rA faith, philosophy., discipline, the rela- 
tions of the Church with civil society, educatio?i, and 
the like'^ This gives no clue to the actual allot- 
ment of business to the seven congregations (or 
committees), nor to the names of the persons of 
whom they consisted, nor to the times of their 
sitting, nor the manner of transacting business, 
nor the presidents appointed to manage them. 
But we are sure that such congregations are 
always placed under the direction of men whom 



Council of the Vatican. 43 

the Pope nominates, and who act under his 
orders. One thing, however, should be noted 
well, and it cannot be better stated than in the 
words of the pastoral now quoted : " None but 
those who are admitted to the work of preparing 
for the Council know what is in preparation ; 
and they are all bound by the Pontifical secret. 
From them nothing can be known ; from others 
nothing can be learned. As St. Augustine said, 
* Nemo dare potest quod non hahet,^ " 

The public proceedings, or ceremonies, have 
been abundantly described by newspaper corre- 
spondents, and need not be repeated here. They 
were all substantially the same as are prescribed 
in the " Roman Pontifical " and " Ceremonial 
of Bishops." The order of the first spectacle 
on the 8th of December, as laid down in 
those books, was punctually followed. The 
procession, the mass, the special prayers, &c., 
and the allocution, were all according to the 
books. As to allocution, it has been translated 
from Latin into English, and circulated in our 
daily newspapers ; but one passage attracted 
special attention and remark, as well it might. 
The Pope read the. allocution before the vast 
assemblage in St. Peter's, and closed a passage 
descriptive of the state of the world, as he views 
it, with these startlinp^ words :— 



44 Councils^ A?icie?it a? id Modern, 

" But as St. John Chrysostom said, ' Nothing 
is more powerful than the Church ; the Church 
is stronger tha^i heaven itself,^ ' Heaven and 
earth shall pass away, but my words shall not 
pass.' What words? ' Thou art Peter, and on 
this rock I shall build my Church, and the gates 
of hell shall not prevail against it.' " 

The present writer no sooner read this pas- 
sage than he perceived that it was intended to 
convey the impression that Chrysostom had so 
explained our Lord's words in one of his homilies, 
and accordingly turned to the volume of Saville's 
Chrysostom, where it is to be found ; and he now 
presents a careful translation of the original 
text, that the reader may compare the two, and 
judge of the Pope's honesty — if the Pope knows 
Greek, or his credulity if he does not. In the 
77 th Homily on the Gospel according to St. 
Matthew the passage referred to stands thus : — 
^'Heaven and earth shall pass away\ but my 
words shall not pass away : 

'' That is to say, these things, which are com- 
pact and immoveable, shall more easily vanish 
out of sight than that aught of my words shall 
fail. And let him who speaks against them test 
the sayings, and when he finds the truth, — for he 
surely shall find it, — let him believe in the things 
which are to come by those which have passed 



Cou?icil of the Vatica?i. 45 

away. Let him also search out all things with 
care, and he will see that the end of the events 
bears witness to the truth of prophecy. A7td 
he directed their attention to the elements (to. 
be (TTOLx^la els iiicrov reOeUev)^ at the same time 
pointing out that the Church is far more precious 
(irpoTiiJLOTepa) than heaveii and earth together^ 
and showing that He hi^nself is creator of the 
whole^ 

As for the pretended allusion to the words of 
our Lord concerning St. Peter, let the reader 
refer to the sacred text (Matt, xxiv.), and ascer- 
tain for himself whether there is any such allu- 
sion. The false statement in the allocution 
gives a poor idea of the Pope's alleged infalli- 
bility j yet, if we may trust to the insight which 
Dr. Manning may be presumed to have, it is 
intended that the Council shall declare it to be 
an article of faith. Whether or not such a 
declaration be made in this Council of the 
Vatican, it is not only in the belief, but in the 
practice of the Court of Rome that such infalli- 
bility is acknowledged. 

There is an elaborate code of law for Rome 
itself [De Or dine procedendi in Judiciis iii 
Romanci Curia Praxis Recentior). which con- 
tains in its preface, word by word, the following 
declaration : — 



46 Cowicils, Aficient and Modern. 

" He is Vicar of God, and takes his place in 
the world (zncegerens in t err is). He is God on 
earth, who judges all men, and is judged of no 
man ; whose judgment God reserves without 
question to his own discretion. His most 
ample power no mortal can restrain. In him no 
defect of power is admitted, for he can do all 
things, and to doubt of his power is a crime and 
sacrilege. The power and jurisdiction which 
are given to himself of God he frequently exer- 
cises by himself Nor does the Supreme Pontift^ 
exercise this jurisdiction by himself only, but he 
exercises it also by others, and grants the same 
also to divers judges, as well in the city [Rome] 
as in the world — that is to say, to legates, by 
virture of office {nati), or to legates whom he 
sends {de latere) ; to the patriarchs, archbishops, 
bishops, and all prelates of the whole world ; as 
well as to the governors of the Ecclesiastical 
State, and the other judges of the Court of 
Rome." 

Such is the language of the temporal power 
in Rome, where Pius IX. is king, and where his 
absolute supremacy is not merely a pretension, 
but a practical reality. The doctrine laid down 
in the civil law of Rome and the Roman State 
speaks in the very words now quoted ; and out 
of the meshes of the law, of which this doctrine 



Council of the Vatican. 47 

of the Pope's divine and absolute authority is 
the soul, there is no escape, and beyond it there 
can be no appeal. The members of the Council 
voluntarily cast themselves into the grasp of the 
Roman Government, and are helplessly self- 
surrendered to its mercy. To put away the last 
atom of hope that any one of them might other- 
wise entertain of being allowed to think, or 
speak, or act for himself in congregation or in 
council, the Pope, on the iirst day of this 
Council, received his oath, as we may gather 
from the notices of the ceremonial. Every one 
of them was made swear to the words appointed 
in the Ordo ad Synodum in the Roman Pontifical 
to the following effect : — 

^^ I, N — — , promise and swear true obedience 
to the Roman pontiff, successor of the blessed 
Peter, prince of the apostles, and Vicar of Jesus 
Christ. Without any doubt, I also receive and 
profess all other things delivered, defined, and 
declared b.y the sacred canons and oecumenical 
councils, and especially by the most holy Synod 
of Trent. And at the same time I equally con- 
demn^ reject^ and curse, all things contrary, and 
whatsoever heresies are condemned, rejected, and 
cursed by the Church. This true Catholic faith, 
without which no man can be saved, which at 
this time I freely profess and truly hold, the 



48 Councils^ Ancimt and Modern, 

same will I be careful, God helping, to retain 
entire and inviolate, most constantly, to the last 
breath of my life, and will cause to be confessed^ 
held, taught, aiid preached by my subjects, and by 
those for who77i it devolves on me to care, I, the 

said N , promise, vow, and swear, so help 

me God and. these holy Gospels of God." 

This oath has been administered; and men 
who have been sworn in at this rate, however 
much they may seem to talk in their lodgings, 
or in the congregations that are now meeting, 
or in the Council itself — whatever they m^ay dare 
to say under protestation of obedience reserved — 
are not free. There can be no freedom of 
speech beyond the limit of the Council of Trent, 
or of any ecclesiastical authority that may be 
quoted against them. Their lips will be sealed, 
whenever the presiding legate declares that it is 
his pleasure for them to be silent. They must 
say and do as they are commanded, or take the 
consequences. They have sworn obedience to 
the Pope as head of the Council and ruler of 
the world. They have also taken his command 
not to quit Rome without his permission until 
the Council is dissolved ; and they have neither 
protection nor deliverance from his control, so 
long as their enforced attendance lasts. And 
yet their master complains dolorously if any one 



Council of the Vatican. 49 

interferes wdth his liberty to bind and flog his 
slaves, even though they be rightfully the subjects 
of other Sovereigns, 

On the day following, there was another pro- 
cession and another ceremony in St. Peter's, and 
the only thing done by the Fathers was then to 
walk into the Council Chamber, receive infor- 
mation of what matters w^ould now be laid before 
them for their consideration, and of the day 
when the Council should meet again. The 
Second Session having been thus disposed of, 
the Third was to be on the 6th day of January 
follow-lng. Meanwhile, congregations were to 
meet, and to prepare their conclusions, if any, on 
the subjects committed to their wisdom. The 
wisdom of the congregations would be to decide 
according to the pleasure of the Pope and his 
legates, and the duty of the Council to meet on 
the Epiphany would be for each Father dis- 
tinctly to pronounce his placet^ and so be con- 
tent, according to the tenor of his oath. 

The proceedings of the congregations were to 
be secret, and the reports of the short-hand 
writers to be sealed up from public observation. 
The Congregation of the Inquisition no doubt 
still exists in Rome, that privileged spot on 
earth, where Secrecy holds her undisputed sway, 
Justice and Mercy embrace each other in obedient 



50 Councils^ Ancient a?id Modern. 

slumber, that nothing may interrupt the action 
of that god upon earth whose pleasure it is a 
crime and a sacrilege to thwart, or even to 
dispute. 

1 he only comfort for an outspoken member of 
a congregation, if such there be, must arise from 
the hope that the days of burning are past ; but 
as the Castle of St. Angelo has not yet been 
dealt with as was the Castle of the Bastille, and 
the cells of St. Angelo are said to be both dark 
and deep, the fear of starvation or of immuration 
is not altogether groundless; and as the dis- 
courses in congregation may implicate others 
besides the speakers, there is no knowing what 
may be the consequences to other parties now 
in Rome. The regimen and customs of the 
dark ages being revived, the gates of the city 
and the frontiers of the little State of the Church 
being well guarded for the present, the trap is 
dangerous. 

One distinguishing feature of this Council of 
the Vatican is, the perfection of the " Pontifical 
Secret." In all former Councils the Sovereigns 
and Governments of the world have had their 
representatives, and although those representa- 
tives were, latterly at least, ecclesiastics bound 
to the Pope by canonical obedience, they were 
also bound to their worldly masters, who had 



Council of the Vatican. 5 1 

some choice of their own in sending them, and 
could recall them at any moment. Then, how- 
ever skilfully they might try to temporise, they 
had to deal with other statesmen perhaps as 
clever as themselves. The trains of these 
" Orators," too, were full of curious observers 
and accomplished spies. Few of the Fathers 
themselves were quite incorruptible, and Princes 
present in the city being surrounded by their 
own servants, political secrecy was almost im- 
possible. Nation checked nation. 

Not so now^ There is not a single acknow- 
ledged representative of any prince or state, and 
the political persons present are themselves of 
the least estimable kind, entirely sympathising 
with the falling papacy, and ready to help it in 
the w^ay of mischief to any extent practicable. 
But no public servant, in whom the people of 
any country could confide, is employed to treat 
with the assembled Council openly and in good 
faith. The secret, therefore, will be kept with 
tenfold vigour, and held fast, to the prejudice, 
if possible, of society at large. That which, in 
past ages, has been the destruction that wasteth 
at noon-day, will now^be openly " the pestilence 
that walketh in darkness." Half the terror, 
therefore, is gone, and a free diffusion of light is 
all that is wanted to dispel the other half. 



52 Councils^ Ancient and Modern. 

In all this mass of secrecy there must be much 
that is intangible, and will never be brought 
out into daylight. Every pressing interest of 
Romanism mil, of course, gain the most intense 
and full a^ttention, quite apart from Council or 
congregation either j and for anything we can 
even conjecture to the contrary, the topics 
ostensibly submitted to them for examination 
in their very brief and intermittent meetings, 
will be but secondary to other matters that will 
keep some men busy night and day, quite apart 
from the routine of Council. Meanwhile, session 
after session may take place without any busi- 
ness at all being transacted. The Fathers may 
show themselves on a day appointed, and after 
some prayers and chanting, mth a mass and a 
sermon, may adjourn for weeks or months, and 
so keep up the face of a Council, while the Court 
of Rome carries on its bye-play on any variety of 
subjects, without letting the world hear a whisper 
of intelligence. This was done at the Council 
of Trent, for the sake of gaining time and wear- 
ing out opposition ; but now, for the reason 
already stated, the Court of Rome has a broader 
and clearer field for secret and independent 
action, and may not care for such delay. 

And this is not mere suspicion. It has been 
necessarily m.ade known for the information of 



Council of the Vatican. 53 

intending perverts, that the Pope is acting for 
himself in their business, without any participa- 
tion of the Council, and will communicate with 
bishops or priests not in communion with Rome, 
or with persons not now acknowledged by Rome 
as such, but who conceive their orders to be 
vahd. They are told that he appoints pious 
and prudent men to confer with them, hear 
their grievances, consider their case, and, where 
it is possible, devise methods for removing hin- 
drances out of the way, and, by any possible con- 
cession, supplying what is defective. Where 
the confidential agents thus appointed can pre- 
sent any ministers of the Church of England, 
for example, who might be worth having, the 
Pope, in the plenitude of his power, may impart 
to such persons the qualification for ministering 
at the altar which they do not yet possess, and 
thus may engage many unfortunate clerics whose 
defective orders as Protestants, or whose imper- 
fect state as married men, would be a barrier 
insurmountable to any council, and assist them 
to cast themselves at once upon his clemency. 
He might even create them Bishops, and lead 
them rejoicing into the next session of the 
Council. The Council might sing a Te Deiun 
over a few such converts in the arch-cathedral 
of the CathoHc world — perhaps over many such — 

E 2 



54 Councils^ Ancient and Moder7i. 

and so take a long stride nearer to that happy 
state of reconciliation so long anticipated for this 
land of Angeli. Perhaps, in reward for bringing 
about a far inferior transformation, the Triple 
Crown itself might be placed upon the head of 
the former Anglican Archdeacon, who has been 
chosen to convey the enticing information to his 
Anglican brethren in this country. 



AVOWED OBJECTS OF THE POPE. 

Notwithstanding the Pontifical secret which 
shrouds every detail, hides the progress of affairs 
from the public eye, and enables the Pope and 
his friends to delay or expedite, to relinquish or 
persevere, as circumstances may require, there 
are some cherished aspirations of Pius IX. 
which it is morally certain he will not now 
surrender. 

His ambition to crush the spirit of nationality 
in Italy was rebuked early in his pontificate. He 
had seen that it was no longer possible to resist 
openly the operation of that spirit, and therefore 
attempted to beguile the ItaHan patriots, by pro- 
fessing to be himself a patriot and a liberal. 
The dissimulation would be a virtue to the 



Avowed Objects of the Pope. 55 

apprehension of one who can favour Jesuitism 
for its maxim of doing evil in majorem gloria^n 
Dei ; and if mankind were altogether so dim- 
sighted as mediaeval discipline would make 
them, he might have succeeded ; but his doings 
were discovered. The Pontifical secret was 
broken by the pontiff himself, who intrigued 
with the Austrian too recklessly, and his career 
of political conspiracy against the liberties of 
Europe v/as cut short by that ignominious con- 
flict with the subjects of his own state, which 
made it impossible for him to attain eminence 
in this particular sphere of reactionary politics. 

He turned towards other subjects on which 
his talents could be more effectually employed, 
and, as yet, not without some success. His 
aims are clearly ascertained, and may be de- 
scribed in very few words. He would bring up 
the dogma of his Church to the full standard of 
absurdity. He would regain for the Church the 
power over society which it has nearly lost. 

Firsts as to dogma. The " pious opinion" of 
an immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary 
had prevailed among the devotees of some 
monastic orders, and had served to confirm the 
weaker minds in Mary-worship. To recover the 
fanatics, after he had lost the liberals, would be 
a consolatory compensation, and he spared no 



56 Coimcils^ Ancient and Modern. 

pains to gain it. A request to all the bishops 
to give him their judgment on the expediency 
of declaring the opinion to be a veritable 
dogma, put him into correspondence with the 
whole episcopate, when he managed to gain 
their views, evade their difficulties, and over- 
rule the objections of some of them; by a 
stroke of prerogative, and the exercise of a 
little canonical severity, he raised the profane 
fable to the desired standard of an article of 
faith. 

The spectacle of December 8, 1854, in Rome, 
gave him encouragement to proceed in the samxC 
path. In the mind of the superstitious masses 
he was associated with the new honours of the 
"mother of God" and 10,000 preaching zealots 
were thenceforth made his panegyrists. The 
8th of December was the day set apart in 
honour of the Immaculate Conception of the 
Blessed Virgin, first definitely proclaimed by 
His Holiness Pope Pius IX. 

This point gained, a second might fairly be 
contemplated — to make the infallibility of the 
Pope himself an article of faith binding upon 
all " CathoHcs, " or, if we must speak in the 
Roman manner, binding upon all mankind. 
The rumour that it was intended to call upon 
the Council to accept the dognla roused the 



Avowed Objects of the Pope. 57 

opposition of multitudes in all parts of the 
world, but especially in France. Nearly two 
centuries ago the Gallican clergy protested 
against the claims of the Popes to be acknow- 
ledged infallible, and absolute masters of all 
bishops. The protest was supported by the 
learning of the Sorbonne, by the authority of 
the King, and by the common sense of the French 
people. To make it obhgatory on all persons to 
profess to believe ^ — for believe they cannot — that 
the Popes are infallible, whether speaking ordi- 
narily or officially, ex cathedra^ would now endan- 
ger an open secession of the French people and 
clergy from the Roman see ; and already Mon- 
signor Maret, Bishop of Sura, and Dean of the 
Faculty of Theology in Paris, has written against 
the doctrine of the supremacy and infallibility of 
the Popes, and promises to write again on the 
same subject after the Council closes. He has 
gone to Rome with the understanding that he 
will oppose the addition of this dogma to the 
creed ; and others have allowed it to be under- 
stood that they will sustain him in their oppo- 
sition. But the terms of the oath, which has 
been partly copied in a preceding page, are so 
clearly in accord with the notion of an absolute 
and unerring perfection in the Pope, that some 
thought it improbable that the proposal would 



58 Councils^ Ancient a7id Modern, 

ever be submitted to the Council for accept- 
ance, but only announced in the hearing of the 
Council, that some of the fathers previously 
engaged or instructed to that effect might, by 
acclamation, signify assent. Hired acclamation 
of loyalty and venal votes are so common in Rome 
that nothing would be easier than to buy such 
an acclamation with silver, and that this aged 
ecclesiastic, like Herod, should accept worship 
as a god. The Ultramontanists might please 
themselves in shouting, " It is the voice of a god, 
and not of a man;" but it is hardly possible 
that the other division of Romanism, usually 
called Cismontane, would join in chorus. 

Second, as to the relations of the Church of 
Rome to society at large, the ambition of this 
pontiff led him to expect, many years ago, that 
he might earn for himself the signal honour of 
overturning European society to its foundations, 
and he has not made any secret of his marvellous 
delusion. 

Five years ago, " the Pope's printers" in Paris 
were employed to publish a volume containing 
" a collection of all the Consistorial Allocutions, 
Encyclicals, and other Apostolic Letters of the 
Sovereign Pontiffs Clement XII., Benedict XIV., 
Pius VI., Pius VII., Leo XII., Gregory XVL, 
and Pius IX., that are cited in the Encyclical and 



Avowed Objects of the Pope. 59 

Syllabus of 8th December, 1864," with other 
documents. This remarkable volume, put forth 
under the sanction of Pius IX., chiefly consists 
of writings issued by himself, and conveying a 
solemn condemnation of the principles, both 
good and bad, that prevail in various circles of 
modern society. There is, last of all, a '^ Syllabus 
of Errors," wherein those principles or opinions 
are categorically expressed, and denounced with 
all the force of language which the writers of 
ecclesiastical censures have at their command. 
A cursory perusal of the Syllabus with reference 
to the documents out of which it is constructed, 
shows that the sentences uttered by the pre- 
sent Pope are by no means expressive of any 
peculiarly intense bigotry in himself, but of a 
steady purpose, entertained from the beginning of 
his reign, if not before, to combat the obnoxious 
propositions which the majority of intelligent 
persons maintain, both out of the Church of 
Rome and in it. Perhaps to conceal his one 
chief intention, he enumerates, first of all, the 
most revolting blasphemies of infidelity. 

Turning from the Syllabus and the mass of 
documentary matter by aid of which it is to be 
more fully understood, and referring to the Letters 
Apostolic by which the present " GEcumenical 
Council" is proclaimed, we find that Pius IX. 



6o Councils^ Ancimt and Modern, 

proposes that this Council shall weigh and deter- 
mine what is to be done, that " by God's good 
help," as he says, " all evils may be removed 
from the Church and from civil society j that 
unhappy wanderers may be brought back into 
the straight path of truth, justice and salvation ; 
that, vices aiid errors being taken away, our 
august religion and its salutary doctrine may 
receive fresh life." 

Now the ^' vices and errors'' are specified in the 
Syllabus, last in the collection of Allocutions and 
Letters now referred to ; and on examining the 
public acts and manifestoes of the Pope from his 
accession in 1 846 to the Letters Apostolic of 1 864, 
convening this Council of 1869, we trace the pro- 
gress of his efforts from year to year, in order to 
accomplish one great design. The unflinching 
determination he has displayed from the be- 
ginning is to be accounted for by the fact that 
none of his ideas are new. He is only doing 
his utmost to carry out the intention of his 
Church ; of which intention the Popes v/hose 
names are enumerated, were, in their time, ex- 
ponents. And this Council of the Vatican, 
closely following in the steps of the Council of 
Trent, is intended to assist the principle of 
absolute authority, as it was maintained by the 
most strongly ambitious pontiffs of ages past. 



''''Errors''''' to be Remedied. 6i 

The vices, of course, are all worthy of con- 
demnation; some of the errors ought to be 
regarded with abhorrence, and many others with 
decided disapproval ; but many '-' errors," as 
they are called in the Syllabus, are in reality the 
principles of Evangelical Reformation, of civil 
and religious liberty, and of social justice and 
humanity. These the Popes and Court of Rom.e 
have always assailed with their utmost power, 
while gross vices and soul-destroying errors have 
been dealt with very tenderly, and drawn forth 
little more than feeble remonstrances, v/hich 
hint connivance while they speak displeasure. 
As the Council is to try again what the Church 
of Rome can do against those errors, let us note 
a few of them. 



'' ERRORS TO BE REMEDIED BY THE COUNCIL 
OF THE VATICAN. 

It has been intimated by advocates of this 
Council that, as the Supreme Pontiff has defined 
and condemned the errors of the Syllabus, it 
would become the Council to affirai the contrary 
propositions. It could not be possible, they say, 
for a Council, being far inferior to a Pope, to 
confirm his sentence by any act of theirs, but 

F 



62 Councils^ Ancient a?td Modern. 

they could respectfully echo his voice by pro- 
nouncing truth, just the contrary of the errors 
he condemns. Let us try the extremely simple 
process, and see what would be the '' truths ^^ 
propagated in England and in the whole British 
empire under the seal of Roman infallibility. 
The errors shall be marked with Roman nume- 
rals, as in the Syllabus (XIX,, etc.), and the 
opposite propositions, to be called truths, with 
Arabic (19, etc.) 

XIX. The Church is not a true and perfect 
society, altogether free, nor is she in possession 
of her own constant right conferred on her by 
the Divine Founder ; but it belongs to the civil 
power to define what are the rights and what 
the limits of the Church, within which she may 
exercise the said rights. 

19. The Church of Rome is a true and perfect 
society, altogether free. She is in possession of 
her own constant right, conferred on her by her 
Divine Founder, and it does ?tot belong to the 
civil power to define what are the rights, 7tor 
what the limitations within which she may exer- 
cise the said rights. 

XX. The ecclesiastical power ought not to 
exercise its authority without the permission and 
assent of the civil government. 

20. The ecclesiastical power ought to exercise 



^^ Errors ^^ to be Remedied. d^i 

its authority without the permission and consent 
of the civil government. 

XXI. The Church has no power to define 
dogmatically that the religion of the Catholic 
Church is the only true religion. 

21. The Church of Rome has power to define 
dogmatically that the religion of the Roman 
Church is the only true religion. 

XXII. The obligation by which Catholic 
masters and writers are bound is confined to 
those things only which are set forth by the 
infallible judgment of the Church, as doctrines 
of faith to be believed by all men. 

2 2. The obligation by which Roman Catholic 
masters and writers are bound is not confined to 
those things only which are set forth by the infal- 
lible judgment of inspired writers., as doctrines 
of faith to be believed by all men. 

XXIII. Roman pontiffs and oecumenical 
councils have gone beyond the limits of their 
power, have usurped the rights of princes, and 
have also erred in defining matters of faith and 
manners. 

23. Roman pontiffs and oecumenical councils 
have never gone beyond the limits of their power. 
They have 7iever usurped the rights of princes, 
7ieither have they erred in defining matters of faith 
and manners. 



64 Councils^ Ancient and Modern, 

XXIV. The Church has no right to employ 
force : she has not any temporal power, direct 
or indirect. 

24. The Church has //.^ right to employ force : 
she has grecit temporal power, both direct a^id 
indirect. 

XXV. Besides the power inherent in the 
Episcopate, there is a temporal power which has 
been conceded to her, expressly or tacitly, by the 
civil authority, and consequently revocable at 
pleasure by this same civil authority. 

25. Besides the spiritual power inherent in 
the Roman Episcopate, there is a temporal 
power which has been acknowledged in her, both 
expressly and tacitly, by the civil authority, and 
is not revocable for a7iy reason by this same civil 
authority. 

LXXVII. In our time it is no longer right 
that the Catholic religion should be regarded as 
the only religion of the State, to the exclusion 
of any other forms of worship. 

77. At the present time it continues to be right 
that the Romish religion should be regarded as 
the only religion of the State, to the exclusion 
of all other forms of worship. 

LXXVIII. Hence, to their praise be it spoken, 
in certain lands bearing tKe Catholic name, care 
is taken by the law that all men making their 



'^ Errors^' to be Remedied. 65 

abode there be allowed the public exercise of 
their own worship. 

78. Hence, to their praise be it spoken, in 
certain lands bearing the Catholic name, care is 
taken by the law that no ma7i whatever making 
his abode there be allowed the public exercise 
of his own religion. 

LXXIX. In fact, it is false that civil liberty 
for any form of worship, and also full power 
allowed to all for manifesting openly and publicly 
any opinions and any thoughts, conduces to the 
more easily corrupting people's manners and 
minds, and to propagating the pestilence of 
indifferentism. 

79. In fact it is true^ that civil liberty for any 
other form of worship, and the least power 
allowed to a7iy person for manifesting, openly 
or publicly, any other opinions or any other 
thoughts conduces to the more easily corrupt- 
ing people's manners and minds, and to pro- 
pagating the pestilence of indifferentism. 

LXXX. The Roman pontiff can and should 
reconcile himself with progress, and put himself 
in agreement with liberalism and recent civili- 
zation. 

80. The Roman pontiff neither can nor should 
reconcile himself with progress, nor put himself 
in agreement with liberty and recent civilization. 

F 2 



66 CoiiHciis, Ancie?it a?id Modern. 

Here, however, in this eightieth " truth/' the 
Pope is quite right. ReconciUation is not 
possible, and ought not to be expected. Per- 
haps no Pope will have reigned longer than this 
vigorous father, Pius IX., and i^\^^ have had a 
much more various and wide experience. He 
has made many trials of his own ability, and 
may be allowed to judge what a man in his 
position can be supposed able to do ; and if he 
thinks that no Pope could reconcile himself 
with progress, nor keep up with the march of 
civilization, he must have credit for at least a 
grain of truth. Yet we have heard many eminent 
Romanists, when addressing strangers, boast 
the contrary. Be this as it may, the reader 
may now^ ponder the contradictions, determine 
for himself, and endeavour to estimate the con- 
sequences of such doctrine as this of the Pope, 
if it should find its way into our pulpits, our 
schools, and the press, and should even tinge, 
not to say permeate^ the youthful mind of 
England. 

INFALLIBILITY. 

At Pisa, or Constance, or Basil, no one would 
have ventured to propose that Papal infallibility 
should be counted a dogma of the faith. During 



Lifallibility . 6 7 

the long schisms two pretended Popes, or three, 
or at one time five, by themselves or their 
proctors, would have had to cast lots for the 
prerogative, or Papal infallibility, like the Pagan 
goddess of Justia, must have taken flight, and 
found refuge in heaven, where only, after all, 
can there be exemption from error. 

^\Tioever wishes to trace the figment of Papal 
infallibility to its source, must put himself under 
the guidance of industrious Ultramontanists, 
who can take him into the cells of mediaeval 
obscurity, and find or invent some shreds of 
evidence that pontiffs have now and then been 
flattered by free councils with an ascription of 
infallibilit}'-. On the other hand, plain history 
tells a-nother tale. 

As the Council of the Vatican follows that of 
Trent as closely as possible, the Fathers of the 
Vatican may be expected to look to Trent for 
the latest and most available guidance. We 
therefore turn to Trent for authentic information 
of the doctrine of the Church of Rome, when 
last authentically expounded. Authority and 
wisdom are not inseparable companions, and no 
degree of authority can be taken to indicate a 
corresponding degree of wdsdom. The decrees 
of Trent de Reformatiojie certainly invest the 
Pope with supremxe administrative power; but 



6S Councils^ Aiicieiit and Modern, 

even so, they all imply two pre-requisites ; one^ 
that the Pope should receive authentic informa- 
tion from the proper quarters, and the other ^ that 
the cardinals should be his constant counsellors 
in the administration of the laws of the Church, 
or assist his judgment in the reserved cases, 
which leave the Pope's will to be in the stead 
of law. Much of the wisdom which is wanted 
to assist his judgment, and much of the authority 
which is necessary to influence his will, is to be 
supplied by the cardinals. Nominally he is an 
absolute sovereign, but, in fact, his sovereignty 
is constitutionally moderated. The moderating 
power may be uncertain, but undoubtedly it 
exists. So much for his authority. 

But wisdom is not to be meted by coun- 
cillors to the pontifex maximus of Christian 
Rome. Hence the old question is to be settled, 
whether the Pope, speaking, as they say, ex 
cathedra^ is infallible or not. Every one knows 
that outside Rome the majority are persuaded 
that he is not, but inside the Roman Court the 
majority would be glad if they might be per- 
suaded that he is. A conciliar congregation de 
fide is now appointed, and it is expected that 
this great question — for they think it a very great 
question — will prove to have engaged their 
chief attention. " Henry Edward, Archbishop 



Infallibility. 69 

of Westminster," is on that congregation, and 
he has done all that he can do to prepare the 
mind of English Romanists for accepting the 
proposed new dogma, that whatever the Pope 
says ex cathedra will be as true as Gospel, and 
even more certain than that. On this point will 
the Council of Trent help the Council of the 
Vatican ? Not in the least 

There is scarcely any allusion to the subject 
in the acts of Trent Perhaps the nearest 
approach is in the chapter on the reservation of 
cases for absolution by the Pope alone {Sessio 
xiv., De Poenitentia^ cap. 7). It is to this effect \ — 
^* It appeared to our most holy fathers most 
conducive to the discipline of Christian people 
that certain more atrocious and graver crimes 
should not be absolved by any but the chief 
priests. Wherefore the Popes, through the 
suprem.e power delivered to them in the uni- 
versal Church, were able to reserve to their own 
judgment certain cases of graver crime. Nor is 
it to be doubted, since all things are ordained of 
God, that this is to all the bishops in their 
respective dioceses for edification, not for 
destruction, by the authority imparted to them 
over their subjects above other inferior priests, 
especially in respect to matters to which the 
censure of excommunication is attached. Now 



7o Councils^ Aficient and Modern. 

it is consistent with Divine authority that this 
reserv^ation of offences should be vahd, not only 
in external polity, but also before God. But 
very piously, lest by this occasion any should 
perish in the Church of God, care was always 
taken that there should be no reservation in a 
man's dying moment, when all priests can 
absolve all penitents from all sins and censures 
whatsoever ; but as, except at the last, the priests 
can do nothing in reserved cases, let them do 
their utmost to persuade penitents that they 
apply to the superior and legitimate judges for 
the benefit of absolution." 

Now it is clear that, if the Council of Trent 
had believed the Pope to be infallible by virtue 
of his office, they would have thought him able 
to condemn a sinner even in the article of death ; 
but lest, by occasion of the reservation of pardon 
to him alone, " any should perish," they would 
not allow him authority to withhold mercy from 
anyone in the article of death. They must have 
allowed it if they believe that the determination 
of giving or withholding absolution is to be left 
by Divine authority to the single judgment {pecu- 
liar i judicid) of an infallible pontiff. 

The theologians, bishops, and universities of 
France and Germany will have to consent or be 
coerced into obedience to the Ultramontane 



Infallibility. 7 1 

congregations and council if the proposed new 
dogma is proclaimed ; but it is impossible to 
believe that they will consent, and it is certain 
that they cannot be compelled. This is all that 
we can say at present. History may not be 
anticipated, and it is not likely that any conjec- 
ture, haza.rded as these pages pass through the 
press, would be in all respects justified by the 
event. At this moment the state of affairs is 
very critical. 

In any event, we may be sure that no act of 
the Council can have any practical effect beyond 
what parties concerned may be willing to 
allow. No decision of the Council can any- 
where have the force of law, nor can the 
members of the Council assume with success the 
language of authority. They of Trent presumed 
to say, even after half Europe had deserted them, 
*^The holy synod exhorts all kings, princes, 
republics, and magistrates; and, in virtue of 
holy obedience, commands them that, as often 
as they are required, they be pleased to render 
their assistance and authority to the bishops, 
abbots, and generals aforesaid, and to other pre- 
fects, for the execution of the decree of reform- 
ation contained above ; that, without any impe- 
diment, the decrees promised may be rightly 
executed to the praise of Almighty God " 



72 Councils, Ancient and Modem, 

{Sessio XXV., cap. 22). For the first time, then, 
in the whole course of Christian history, a 
Council has been held, having the name of 
" oecumenical," without the power of enacting 
a single law for the Church it undertakes to 
govern, or of calling in a single state in the 
world to support them, by enforcing the 
execution of their decrees. 

So new a thing is this, that a Protestant would 
not make the statement without pausing for a 
moment to guard himself against exaggeration. 
Let us, therefore, borrow the language of an 
unquestionable authority, as Dr. Manning, in 
this case, must be considered. "What govern- 
ment," he asks, "at this day professes to be 
Catholic? . . . What country in Europe at this 
day recognises th^ unity and authority of the 
CathoHc Church as a part of its public laws ? 
What country has not, by royal edicts, or legis- 
lative enactments, or revolutionary changes, 
abolished the legal status of the Catholic Church 
within its territory? ... As governments and 
nations, they have, by their own act, withdrawn 
themselves from the unity of the Church. As 
moral or legal persons, they are Catholic no 
longer" {Pastoral Letter, 1869, p. 127). The 
fact is simply this : that the separation of the 
states once called CathoHc from the Church of 



Councils held in Rome. 73 

Rome has been gradual, and is not yet formally 
proclaimed. It is not a sudden schism, but a 
quiet desertion in consequence of indifference 
or disgust, and the meeting of a Council in self- 
declared separation from all states will not fail 
to be marked in history as the termination of a. 
period — " the end of the things that have passed 
away," as Chrysostom says, when speaking of 
the destruction of Jerusalem, in the passage to 
which the Pope himself unwittingly directed our 
attention. We may now mark Nic^ea as the 
first general council in which the civil power 
took a part, and Trent as the last. Let the 
Vatican stand at the opening of a new chapter, 
— not to say the last chapter, which would 
be unlikely,— in the history of the Papacy, which 
did not appear all at once, and is not likely 
to vanish at a stroke. 



COUNCILS HELD IN ROME. 

I CANNOT refrain from adding a brief note on 
the Councils hitherto holden in the city of 
Rome, and dignified with the title of (Ecume- 
nical. They have all been held in times of 
trouble or disgrace, were all entirely subject to 

G 



74 Councils^ Ancient a?id Modern, 

the direct personal control of the Popes v^^ho 
convened them, and have been remarkably 
devoid of permanent influence, except for pur- 
poses of persecution. They stand thus : — 

A.D. 1 1 23. — Lateran I. called the Ninth 
(Ecumenical. The Pope Calixtus II. published 
the decrees in his own name, as if the abbots 
and bishops present were of no account what- 
ever. The object of the so-called Council was 
to inspirit the mass of the clergy everywhere 
against the secular authorities — to set the Pope 
above the king in every country. Not much 
came of it. 

A.D. 1 1 39. — Lateran IL, CEcumenical X. 
Innocent 11. convened and ruled as many 
bishops as he could get together, to denounce a 
rival with whom he had had a pitched battle. 
After this he had to flee from Rome, took 
refuge in France, was, like Pius IX., restored to 
Rome by a French army, and was kept in pos- 
session of the same, just as it happens at the 
present moment. 

A.D. II 7 9. — Lateran III., CEcumenical XL 
Alexander III. convened this assembly for the 
twofold purpose of guarding against the election 
of antipopes in future, but signally failed, and 
of putting down the Cathari, Patarenes, and 
other dissentients, but also with slight success, 



Coimcils neld in Rome, 75 

beyond the shedding of much blood. This 
third Lateran was called the Pope's Council, 
inasmuch as the whole business was transacted 
by him and for him. 

A.D. 12 15. — Lateran IV., CEcumenical XIL 
Innocent III. surrounded himself widi 412 
bishops, over whom he presided. Using this 
appearance of a Council, he engaged them to 
correct bad manners — a favourite occupation of 
pontiffs, who have always much unfinished work 
of the kind in hand — and to .condemn heretics. 
In this Council he laid broad and sure foun- 
dations for the full establishment of the Inqui- 
sition, for which preparatory measures had been 
taken by Alexander in the preceding council of 
the Lateran. Here he bound princes and ma- 
gistrates to kill those whom the Inquisitors 
should condemn. 

A.D. 15 12 to 1517. — Lateran v., CEcumenical 
XIX. Julius 11. began this Council to strengthen 
himself against Louis XIL of France, who had 
invaded Italy. Leo X. continued it in order to 
follow up the same object, and, as he professed, 
maintain peace among the princes of Christendom, 
many of whom, however, were effectually alien- 
ated from the papacy by his own extravagances. 
He did his best to nullify those regulations of 
the Council of Pisa, which gave councils au- 



76 Councils^ Ancient and Modern, 

thority over Popes, made the Council declare 
absolutely the contrary, and denounced solemn 
excommunication upon all persons who should 
presume to comment upon, or interpret its trans- 
actions, without the special licence of the Holy 
See. 

A. D. 1869. . . . This council has not 
yet received its name, nor done its work, but 
answers exactly to the character of all that have 
preceded it in the same city. 



PROBABLE EFFECTS OF THIS LAST COUNCIL. 

In England and throughout the British empire, 
as well as in the United States of America, some 
marked results of this Council may be reason- 
ably expected. Already it presents Romanism 
to public view under an aspect which has not 
generally drawn sufficient attention. The reports 
daily received from Rome during the preparatory 
ceremonies, the books previously written in 
France and Germany, and the speculations 
excited on many interesting topics, have led to 
new trains of thought, and to fresh and unex- 
pected anticipations. If all this leads to broad 
historic views of the whole subject, and raises 
writers and speakers above the low ground of 



Probable Effects. 77 

controversy on small points and personalities, 
great good will follow. 

Already earnest prayer — but, we must hope, 
not presumptuous nor imprecatory — has been 
offered, and cannot be offered in vain. Let 
the anathemas of Trent, the curses launched 
ages before and ages after, and the con- 
temptuous bitterness of priestly writers of the 
straiter sect of Ultramontanists, where they 
have not provoked excessive indignation, now 
call forth blessing as the only fit answer to 
revilings ; and if prayer and blessings abound 
on our side, both they and we shall have even- 
tually great cause of satisfaction. The possi- 
bility that the Council may be prolonged for a 
few months at least gives hope that earnest 
Christian people, and especially such as lead 
public opinion in the pulpit and by the press, 
will learn and profit much, without suffering the 
injurious irritation of private controversy. 

The worst effect on ourselves, not so much of 
the Council as of the general disfavour into which 
the Papacy has fallen on the continent of Europe, 
is felt already in the rapid influx of Romanism 
from other countries. Some of the most important 
Romish missionary and educational institutions 
are planting their establishments in England, and 
the religion which, fifty years ago, vv^as alien, 



78 Cotmcils, Ancient and Modern. 

almost unknown, and regarded with a kind of 
traditional horror, now makes itself almost every- 
where familiar. There is a false impression that 
this rapid increase of congregations, schools, 
brotherhoods, and sisterhoods, is all of English 
growth, or nearly all. The large outlay of cash 
in many directions, independently of local 
resources (which are comparatively small), occa- 
sions an impression of great wealth, and natu- 
rally provokes the suspicion that Protestant 
liberality has contributed largely to this new 
prosperity. The suspicion is not altogether 
groundless, but it is exaggerated. The assem- 
blage of a Council in Rome, carried on from 
month to month, scowling with defiance on 
united Italy, and acting in concert with the ex- 
king of the two Sicilies and some lesser Italian 
princes, and other unseated potentates, looks so 
much like a political demonstration against the 
states that were under despotic government 
twenty years ago, that the priestly party are in 
a worse and worse position every day, and their 
immigrants necessarily multiply in our country. 
This is the very worst effect of the Council of 
the Vatican ; or, if turned to good account, it 
may actually be the best. If these people flock 
hither for an asylum, and so become our neigh- 
bours, we must make them our friends too, 



Probable Effects, 79 

and lead them, God helping us, to the Head of 
the Church, our Great High Priest, who sits 
enthroned among us, as we trust He does, and 
will show the tokens of His presence. 

An effort to do this would bring us to the Bible, 
which our scholars and even our preachers have 
studied far too little. They will probably bring 
with them more unbelief than superstition, and 
compel us again to feel after the half-forgotten 
foundations of our faith. In exchange for the 
asylum we afford them in common with other 
fugitives, we shall, of course, assert our right to 
collect congregations and erect churches in all 
the cities in Europe, specially in the south, and 
prove to them, if they have not yet learned to 
confess it, that ours is no mere insular religion, 
but the catholic worship and confession of the 
triune God. They must know, that from the 
rising to the setting sun our brethren bow the 
knee, and confess that Christ is Lord, to the 
glory of the Father. 

We cannot indulge them here with a very 
large enjoyment of their secret. We have no 
inquisitions, and we hate confessionals. They 
must not promise themselves the convenience 
of monastic prisons, nor expect their nunneries 
to be always barred against the light of day, 
nor hope to have cursing-places near their altars, 



So Coimcils^ Ancient and Modern. 

nor to be allowed control over the press, nor 
wish us to leave them the shelter of latitudi- 
narian silence ; but they shall have honest English 
liberty, and we will retain and use the same. 

On the Continent, and in more distant lands 
where the religion of Rome has hitherto been 
associated with the State, and until very lately 
dominant, the changes must be great. 

The ostentatiously sacerdotal Council lately 
opened in Rome will necessarily be the pattern 
for diocesan synods, if they have them, and 
provincial or national councils, if they think it 
practicable and desirable to hold them, all inde- 
pendent of the State. But every such assem- 
blage will be a practical proclamation of the 
separation of the Church of Rome from all states 
in the world. The chief men of the town will 
not carry a silken canopy over the head of the 
metropolitan, or other pontiff, as he rides along 
their street on a gentle mule, shod with golden 
shoes. The rule of the bishops^ ceremonial will 
not be kept. 

Better still, the national spirit will rise above 
the Roman. Rome may return to Italy, but Italy 
will no longer crouch to Rome. If the Council 
of the Vatican confirms the Syllabus, and de 
clares the Pope infallible, Italy will consider how 
she may most gracefully demonstrate the mis- 



Probable Effects. 8t 

take. Spain, in that case, may be provoked to 
take down the Papal arms from the palace of 
the Nuncio, and France, withdrawing her soldiers 
from what was once the Papal territory, may go 
on quietly by herself, and leave any successors 
that may come after Pius IX. to follow their own 
course, so long as they, too, will go on quietly. 

The national spirit will now inevitably revive. 
Sovereigns and parliaments will so shape the 
laws as to lower the claims of the clergy in regard 
to immunities from civil charges, and the tenure 
of Church property. Society at large will encourage 
the priesthood to cast off the degrading yoke of 
celibacy. The episcopal oath Avill be everywhere 
abolished, because it is everywhere inconsistent 
with regal rights and national independence. 
Popes used to launch interdicts upon nations, 
shut up the churches, muffle the bells, leave the 
living unblest and the dead unburied, until 
princes wrapped themselves in sackcloth, did 
penance, and on bared knees implored mercy of 
the man who boasted himself God's vicegerent 
upon earth. Now, nations will put their inter- 
dict upon the Papacy, if the Papacy is not care- 
ful to refrain from provocation. They have 
already intimated, after careful deliberation in 
the Cabinets, that their dealing towards Rome, 
self-separated from their company, will, for the 



82 Councils^ Ancient and Modern. 

present at least, depend upon the doings of this 
Council. 

In the line taken by the Pope who summoned 
the Council, and who rules it, there is nothing 
conciliatory to the governments; and unless he 
proves his fallibility and good sense at the same 
time by cancelling all his Allocutions and Letters 
Apostolic, and Encyclicals, recanting all his 
hard speeches and contemptuous threats, and 
bidding his Council help him to be gracious, 
the Government will indeed turn an interdict 
upon the Ultramontane priesthood, and leave 
him or his successors to shiver in the cold of a 
universal political desertion. 

There was a certain charm during the first 
week or so, of conciliar spectacles and enter- 
tainments. St. Peter's Cathedral served well as 
a place of meeting for ecclesiastics and foreign 
notabilities of the lesser grades. A judicious 
mingling of titular bishops and patriarchs from 
the East, with Pope's guards and cardinals, 
impressed less-informed strangers with a notion 
of world-wide reverence for the aged priest-king 
whom they saw carried on his gestatory chair, 
or seated on his throne. But the processions 
are over. The music is silent. The bishops 
are broaching their opinions. Even cardinals 
give signs of discontent. The attendance is felt 



Probable Effects. Z-^ 

to be compulsory. The Court of Rome has 
lost its ancient splendour, and the visitors cannot 
help observing that the Pope is not supported hy- 
men of commanding talent and influence in the 
Courts of Europe. He is too much alone. The 
stars around him are of too little magnitude. 
The senator of Rome is nobody. The people 
of Rome are nothing. Italy is too far off. The 
brigands are too important. People are all 
strangers; even the Pope has lived too long. The 
Romans are counting his days, and, in spite of 
history, begin to fancy that in longevity he may 
even equal or exceed St. Peter, first Pope regnant 
in the Eternal City, whose length of reign no 
Pope has ever quite equalled. All this, indeed, 
about Peter, first of Popes, is grossly fabulous ; 
but it is no illusion that Pius IX. must soon 
die, and unless sufiicient grief can be simulated 
at his exequies, he will depart unwept. 

The prospect is very gloomy. But when, nearly 
a quarter of a century ago, Pius was crowned, 
a tuft of tow was ceremonially consumed 
before him, and when it was reduced to 
ashes, a servant of the palace cried, as was the 
custom, Sancte Pater. Sic transit gloria mu7tdt, 
C' Holy Father. Thus passes away the glory of 
the world.") Thus indeed it passes. Thus passed 
away the last of the Roman Emperors. Thus 



84 Councils^ Ancient and Modern, 

will, some day, the last of the Popes pass off the 
stage where this one has played a stubborn part. 
They may hnger for a time, just like the Knights 
of Malta in San Giovanni, but, like the Caliphs 
of Bagdad and Cordova, those true successors 
of Mohammed, these counterfeit vicars of Christ 
will pass away into the limbus of oblivion. 



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